The Best Kind of Trouble
by Written Novocaine
Summary: Clementine Everett has been deemed a troubled youth. She is sent to Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth by her loving adoptive father, Lee, to give them both some needed space and time to figure things out. Join Clementine as she navigates breaking down her walls, building friendships, and getting back home to her family. Clouis, longfic.


Chapter 1

"I think this will be great for us all, sweetpea" a gruff voice offers. Clementine scoffs and looks out of the car window.

"More like great for you," she retorts. Lee frowns.

"I know I made mistakes Clementine. I didn't give you the structure you needed. We both have things we need to work through. You know I love you, but right now… I don't know how else to keep you safe."

"I love you too," she replied before putting on a set of headphones, plugged into the black iPod Touch she had received for her 16th birthday, just a few months prior. At this moment, she wished she could hug her little brother one more time. She wouldn't see him again until the spring break in March. Lee's reasoning for not bringing him had been that he didn't want to make him upset by having a big goodbye scene. Not to mention, a five-year-old didn't do the greatest on a five-hour drive. She wondered if she would be able to talk to him on the phone.

Clementine reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a crimson folder. On the front was a school logo.

Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth.

She reached into the folder for the page of the student handbook that needed to be signed upon arrival. She read over the cell phone policy. She would be allowed to have her cell phone while at the school, provided it stayed in her dorm during classes.

Visitors would be allowed once a month, but with the five-hour drive each way Clementine didn't think Lee and AJ would show up for a two-hour visit. She slipped the paper back into the folder, closed it, and slid it back into the glove compartment. With almost two hours left to go, Clementine pushed her blue and white baseball cap down to cover her eyes, reclined her seat, and closed her eyes.

Clementine awoke to a gentle nudge on her shoulder.

"We're here, sweetpea."

Clementine groaned in response. She adjusted her hat, feeling her thick curls squish underneath it. She pulled down the mirror to check her appearance. Dried drool on her cheek probably wouldn't make a good look for her first day.

"Look, Clementine. It's a beautiful campus," said Lee.

Her carmel eyes opened a bit wider as she looked out the window. The pictures online and in the brochure hadn't done the campus justice. It was an intimidatingly beautiful building, settled on lush green grass, surrounded by thick woods.

"Wait, stop the car here," Clementine pleaded. Lee pressed down on the breaks, having heard that familiar phrase far too often. Clementine happily reached into her backpack from the floor and pulled out a bulky, digital single lense reflex camera. Her Canon Rebel was her pride and joy. Each summer since she was thirteen was spent babysitting in the neighborhood, performing extra chores Lee would've otherwise paid someone else to do, and walking dogs. With one final push from Christmas money, she was finally able to purchase the camera of her dreams.

Clementine unclicked her seatbelt and pushed the car door open, stepping onto the concrete. She looked around and tried to figure out where she could get the best shot. She smiled before climbing on top of the hood of Lee's new Subaru.

"Clementine!"

"I'm fine!" she called, crouching down to get the perfect angle. She snapped several shots of the building and surrounding landscape. For a moment, she almost forgot that she was doomed to stay there, away from her family. She hopped down from the hood and onto the ground. Flipping through the photos as she walked back to the passenger door, Clementine felt her eyes beginning to well with tears.

"Clem," Lee started as she opened the door.

"Stop," she said, settling into her seat and re-buckling her seatbelt.

"It's okay to feel sad, honey,"

"No, it fucking isn't!" she exclaimed. Lee's eyes widened. She didn't usually curse at him.

"I'm sorry," she started. "It's not okay for me to feel sad, or to cry. I did this. To myself, to us, to our family. I caused trouble. I never listened, I took you for granted," she went on. A few lone tears fell down her face, despite how hard she had tried to hold them back. Lee sighed.

"You aren't alone in this, Clementine. I'm supposed to be your dad. I'm supposed to guide you, tell you when you're being wild. Reprimand you, discipline you. Not just let you get away with murder," he said, looking down. His hand went to the gear shift, putting the car back into drive. Clementine remained quiet.

They only drove for another minute of silence, as they approached the dormitory parking lot. A girl who appeared about Clementine's age, maybe a year or so older was waiting by the entrance of the dorms.

"I guess that's my tour guide," she said.

"Looks that way," Lee said. His hand went to take the key out of the ignition, but he froze.

"It's okay, Dad."

She rarely called him that. She had a father. Ed Walker. Once in a while, though, it felt nice to call Lee her dad. Blood doesn't make a dad.

Lee pulled the keys out with a subtle smile and opened his door. Clementine did the same, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Lee opened up the trunk and they pulled out two suitcases along with two clear plastic bins. Lee, being a college professor had gone to the trouble of asking his students for their best dorm packing tips.

"You still think this much food was necessary?" Clementine asked as she struggled to balance the suitcase and plastic bin.

"School food is never good, Clem. My students pay thousands to eat garbage. You'll thank me later," he replied as he balanced her other suitcase and bin. She rolled her eyes and continued to walk towards the girl she had spotted earlier. She had short, mousy brown hair and grey eyes. She was only a few inches taller than Clementine, and built just slightly heavier than her.

"Welcome to Ericson's!" she greeted cheerfully. "My name's Brody, I'm going to be showing you around and gettin' you settled." Brody stretched out an arm for Clementine to shake, which she simply looked at. Lee quickly outstretched an arm to save the girl from the awkward moment.

"This is Clementine, I'm Lee, her father," he introduced. Brody smiled awkwardly.

"Nice to meet y'all. Mr. Everett, you're welcome to help her into her dorm to unpack her things. Once she's all settled, that's usually when parents head out," she explained. Lee and Clementine looked at each other. The fact that they were about to be separated until March began to sink in. Sensing the tension, Brody spoke up.

"You're technically welcome to stay as long as you like, until dinner. That's a few hours away though, so let me show you to her room. Oh, and here, let me take a suitcase," she offered, taking the suitcase Clementine was holding.

Clementine remained silent as Brody waved a small card in front of a black box attached to the door. The door made a clicking noise and she pulled it open.

"You'll get an ID card to enter the dorms. Ericsons' itself is really secure, we have guards at the entrance. The cards and sensors are a new addition, it's mostly to keep people in their own buildings," she explained as she walked them down the hall. Brody handed her a blank white plastic card.

"This is a temporary card, tomorrow after your meeting with the headmaster you'll take a photo and receive a permanent one.

You can have visitors from the opposite gender between three and eight PM on weekdays, as long as you open the door for them. Weekends are more lenient, from nine in the morning until nine at night".

"If I don't follow that?" Clementine asked quickly. Lee's eyes widened.

"Why the hell wouldn't you?" he asked. Brody stifled a laugh.

"Well, you pretty much have to," she said as she stood in front of a red door. Room 108.

"We have a female faculty member who does rounds a few times a day, usually before and after the visiting hours. Couple extra times on the weekends. If you get caught with someone you shouldn't be, or doing something you shouldn't be, well, that's a trip to headmaster Ericson's office," she explained. She pulled a gold key out of her pocket and unlocked the door.

"Welcome to your second home," she said, holding the door open for them. Clementine set her things on the bed and began to take in her surroundings. There were posters for different rock bands on the walls, some of which she recognized. The curtains were heavy and light blocking, there was a black and fuzzy rug on the floor in front of the bed opposite to her. Any decorations in the room were pretty dark tones, which Clementine didn't really mind. Her room at home was brighter, but still pretty simple.

"You really lucked out with this room, Clementine," Brody began. "We usually keep four students in each room, but enrollment is pretty low this semester. We were able to have a couple double rooms for new students, students showing improvement or taking on leadership roles like myself," she explained.

"Lucky me," Clementine said, sarcasm apparent in her tone. Brody tried not to break her smile.

"Your roommate Violet is in her last class of the day. She'll probably be around soon to greet you if she doesn't have other plans. You two are pretty similar, you'll like her," she said. Clementine just looked away and began unpacking her things.

"Well, I'll leave you two to get unpacked and all settled in. We usually try to schedule a dorm meeting for when new students arrive, that'll be at five. You're welcome to head to dinner after then, or not, looks like you're prepared for the apocalypse already," she said with a chuckle. Clementine went red and glared at Lee. Sensing her embarrassment, Brody tried to backtrack.

"Hey, a lot of the food here is garbage, so you've come prepared. There's one microwave in the meeting room if you need to use it, but no fridge, so your drinks are gonna stay warm," she said. Lee smiled at this.

"I told you that you'd be needing all this," he said. Clementine lost the glare and relaxed a bit. At least if dinner was disgusting she wouldn't starve. Her stomach growled a bit as she thought about the tacos Lee had planned to make for dinner tonight.

"You're making me the best soul food plate ever made when I come home," she said. Lee laughed.

"Done deal, sweetpea,"

Her cheeks flushed again, and Brody sensed it was time to leave them alone. She handed Clementine the key from her pocket, along with a red lanyard.

"Try not to lose that, we don't have a ton of extras, after the first extra it gets added on to your tuition," she said. Clementine attached the key to the lanyard immediately. She knew Lee was already paying and arm and a leg for this place.

"I'll see you at the meeting in a couple hours, Clementine," Brody said, waving goodbye and walking out the door.

Clementine and Lee looked at each other for a minute before beginning to silently unpack her things. Clementine worked on the clothes as Lee unpacked her food and other supplies. After a short while, most of her essentials were packed away and the bed was made. She couldn't help but notice how her simple gray comforter and fluffy white pillows clashed with her roommates dark comforter and silky pillowcases. Lee noticed her staring.

"I think it's time for me to go, Clementine," he finally said. She looked up at him.

"Yeah," she muttered.

"Don't want your roommate to meet your uncool dad," he said with a laugh. Clementine smiled a bit before going over to give him a hug.

"I'll miss you, Lee," she said.

"It's not forever, sweetpea. Just until we can both figure things out. Work through everything, and then get you back home and safe," he started. Clementine was still holding onto him.

"Shit, I'm going to miss you so much," he finished, holding her tightly. They finally broke apart and he gave her one good pat on the shoulder before heading towards the door.

"Goodbye, sweetpea. Call me tonight once you're all settled, okay?" he said, hand lingering on the doorknob. Clementine nodded, holding back from crying yet again.

_Damn it, why am I so emotional today? _She thought.

"Goodbye, Lee. I'll give you a call tonight," she replied. With that, Lee was gone. She sat on the bed, defeated. Not wanting to think too much about it, she reached for her iPod again and layed back on her bed, listening to music. It was her one way to just not think about everything. She could feel herself starting to drift off, exhausted from the ride and unpacking.

The sound of the door opening and closing awoke her. She sat up in her bed, taking out her headphones. The girl who entered her room didn't speak, simply walked over to the wardrobe on her side of the room and began looking through it. She had pale, nearly platinum blonde hair that hit just below her chin, with sideswept bangs. She wore skinny blue jeans and what looked like a white band t-shirt, accompanied by classic black canvas sneakers. The two finally made eye contact. It was a bit of a staring match, until Clementine finally spoke.

"Hey," she said. The girl just looked at her.

"Hey," she finally replied before going back through her clothes. Clementine was unsure of how to proceed. She had never met someone as… well, as rude as her. She was going to have to be the one to make the effort here, if she wanted life with a roommate to be easier.

"I'm Clementine," she tried again. The girl sighed.

"I know."

Clementine just stared. The girl sighed again, defeated.

"I'm Violet. Obviously your roommate. Look, I hate small talk. Don't really want to hear about where you're from or how many siblings you have. You're gonna be forced to share all that at the meeting anyways," she finally spoke. Clementine groaned.

"Is it going to be one of those shitty fucking icebreakers?" she asked. Violet finally cracked a smile.

"Yeah," she began. She put on a fake smile and continued. "Hi everyone, welcome our new student, Clementine! Let's all make her feel really welcome! Everyone go around and share your name, where you're from, and one fun fact about yourself. Let's start with you, Clementine!" she recited, in a spot-on impression of Brody's cheery tone. Clementine couldn't help but start laughing.

"Holy shit, how did you sound just like her?" she asked through laughter. Violet even chuckled a bit herself.

"That's her stupid head-of-year voice. She's the head of the sophomore class. It's actually a paid position, they give her like six-twenty an hour and pay her for a few hours every week. Not a bad gig if you don't mind having to put on the fakest customer service voice in the universe," she explained.

"Oh, so are you friends with her?" Clementine asked. Violet nodded.

"Yeah, a group of us like to hang together," she said. Clementine was still a bit curious about all of this.

"So, can anyone get a job here like Brody?" she asked.

"Nah," started Violet. "You've gotta have, like, straight A's for the past year and a pretty short rap sheet. Nobody's is totally clean, otherwise they wouldn't be here," she said. Clementine nodded. She looked at the alarm clock on Violet's night table. It read 4:45, meaning she had a little time to change and grab a snack before the meeting. Violet did the same, and naturally they ended up walking to the meeting together.

Clementine endured the boring meeting. Her saving grace was that truly nobody wanted to be there. After the ice-breakers, Brody went on to reiterate some of the floor rules that somebody must've broken. After the meeting was over, Clementine looked at Violet and gathered some courage as they walked back to their room.

"Hey, what time does dinner start?" she asked. Violet looked at her phone. It was a black motorola flip phone, not too uncommon. A few of Clementine's classmates back in Georgia had one.

"It's already open," she said, putting her phone away.

"Is there going to be a lot of people?" she asked. Violet looked at her, beginning to get the message.

"Nah, there's only 40 kids enrolled right now. Decent size cafeteria. Won't be too bad,"

Clementine started to open the door of their room. Violet sighed, feeling a bit guilty.

"Hey, why don't you come with me? I'd kinda feel like an asshole if I let you eat by yourself on your first day," she finally gave in. Clementine tried to keep a poker face.

"You sure? Don't want to intrude," she said.

"Come or not, I don't care," Violet replied and began walking.

"Alright," Clementine answered cooly as she followed the taller girl to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was as Violet had described it. There were only about eight tables, and the benches seemed to hold about five kids on each side. However, there only seemed to be around thirty kids in the cafeteria. Clementine followed her roommate into the food line, where her plate was filled with spaghetti, a dinner roll, green beans, and a cosmic brownie.

"You're lucky, spaghetti day is one of the less offensive dinners," Violet told her. Clementine looked down at the plate. She felt pretty offended.

"Guess so," she said, following Violet's lead and grabbing a water bottle on her way out. They made their way to a table already filled with a few people. Clementine first recognized Brody, who was sitting next to a kid with a blonde mullet.

"Hi, Clementine," Brody greeted her in a much less condescending voice than she had used with her earlier.

"Ah, is this our new girl?" asked the boy next to her. Brody nodded, smiling at him.

"This is Clementine, guys. She seems decent so I brought her to sit with us. Louis, don't be weird," Violet announced before sitting down. Clementine took the open seat next to her. Somebody, who she assumed to be Louis, made an offended scoffing noise.

"Me? Be weird? How could you accuse me of such a thing, my dear Violet?" he asked. Clementine scanned him for a bit. He had brown dreads that fell around his ears, a wide smile, and a bunch of freckles scattered across his nose. He was clad in a green shirt and brown jacket. Clementine looked away quickly, not wanting to be caught staring. She would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that he was good looking.

"You're already doing it, dingbat," Violet retorted. Louis' smile didn't falter.

"Well, I'm Louis. Nice to meet you, Clementine," he introduced himself.

"Same here," she replied, smiling. Violet grinned.

"That's like, the first time I've seen her smile today aside from when I did my impression of Head Girl Brody," she revealed. Louis only smiled wider, as Brody frowned.

"Hey! You'd do it for some cash too," she accused. Violet ignored this as everyone laughed.

"Making people happy. It's what I do," Louis said, still smiling. Everyone at the table looked at them. Clementine lowered her baseball cap and picked up her fork.

"Well, I'm Marlon. Good to meet ya, Clementine," the boy with the mullet said. Clementine nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hey, you guys seen Minnie and Sophie?" Violet asked.

"Yeah, Minnie is working on her physics project. Sophie's helping her. They said they'd be down for dinner later, probably right before it closes," Brody answered. Violet nodded.

"Who's Minnie?" Clementine asked.

"My girlfriend," said Violet. "Sophie is her twin sister."

Clementine nodded, continuing to eat. The spaghetti wasn't awful, but she'd definitely rather be eating her dad's tacos. Another minute passed with the rest of the group chatting. Although she felt a bit left out, Clementine didn't want to intrude on their conversation. Violet was nice enough to let her sit with the group. Clementine's silence didn't go unnoticed, however. She was a bit startled when Louis began talking to her from across the table.

"So, Clementine, where ya from?" Louis asked, making direct eye contact with her. The rest of the group went silent and focused on their conversation.

"Just outside Atlanta, Georgia. I've lived in Athens, Georgia for a while now, though," she replied honestly.

"A Georgia-" Louis started.

"Don't finish that thought," Clementine replied quickly. Louis chuckled, seeming unfazed by her curtness.

"Me and Marlon are Virginia natives, ourselves," he replied.

"Cool," said Clementine, uninterested. Louis' smile finally faltered a bit.

"She's worn out," started Brody. "Had to do those god awful icebreakers at the meeting tonight," she explained. Clementine nodded, not wanting to be rude. Louis seemed nice enough, and she really wasn't in a position to deny potential friendship.

"Yeah, those things suck. Well, I'm all full. Marlon, you ready to head up?" he asked his friend.

"Sure bro," Marlon replied, grabbing his tray. Marlon leaned down to give Brody a subtle kiss on the head before walking away, making her smile. The two walked away, leaving the three girls to their own devices.

Clementine couldn't help but notice Violet and Brody smiling, making some strange eye contact. Violet finally broke the contact, laughing.

"Something funny?" Clementine asked, frowning. She knew she wasn't in the loop yet, and that was fine, but she didn't take to being laughed at.

"Naw, nothing," said Brody through a chuckle. Violet recollected herself and spoke.

"Louis is a lying shit. He's never full, he packs away food like a fucking dog. He left and took Marlon with him so he could gush like a little bitch about how pretty you are," she explained. Clementine reddened.

"Wait, what?"

"Don't act surprised. New kids here don't last for more than a month or two before their parents take them back. Unless you did something really awful, you're not staying here for long," Violet continued. Brody nodded. Clementine tried not to grimace as she remembered what she'd done that triggered Lee to send her here. She was definitely going to be here for a while.

"What does that have to do with Louis?" she asked. Brody looked at her and helped finish Violet's thought.

"Well, none of the new kids stay. It's the same girls here for the past few years. If he liked one of the single ones, he would already be with them. So you're…"

"Shiny and new," Clementine finished, understanding.

"Wouldn't be surprised if a couple other guys try to get to you, too," Violet said, agreeing. Clementine relaxed a bit, but also couldn't help but feel a pinch of disappointment. A feeling, she decided, to immediately push away. Why did she care what some guy she knew for all of five minutes thought of her?

Eventually they were done, and Violet informed her she was heading up to see Minnie and Sophie. Brody went to see Marlon for what was left of the visiting hours, and Clementine was left to her own devices. She wondered if she should try giving her bedroom a little more personality, or if she should explore the building. After all, she had another three or so hours until lights out. Probably left her enough time to do both, she thought.

Clementine pulled out the small map she had left folded up in her back pocket. Looking over the buildings, she tried to pick where she ought to explore first. The administration building didn't seem like somewhere she wanted to be caught snooping around. She looked to the side of the map, where it listed what the buildings held. The music room caught her eye, however it was in the exact building she wasn't sure about entering.

_Well, I'm nothing if not sneaky, _she thought. With that, she set out on her journey. She traveled through the elegant courtyard, where some students lingered at the picnic tables. It was late January, so at this point it was pitch dark outside. Clementine shivered, making a mental note to layer up next time. She continued walking towards her destination, ignoring the few stares she received.

_Don't take it personal, Clementine… you're the new girl. They're going to stare, _she reminded herself of Lee's words. At her old school, had somebody been staring at her like that, she definitely would've had something to say. She tried to remind herself that she was turning a new leaf. She needed to get back home, to her family.

After what felt like forever due to the hard stares, she made her way to the administration building. The doors came open with ease, so she figured it must still be open. At least she wouldn't be in trouble for being there. According to the map, the music room was room 207. She made her way up the large staircase, and soon heard soft piano keys. Now she just had to follow the music.

Upon entering the room, no other noises were there besides the piano. She looked at the bench and found none other than Louis. The sound of the keys came to a halt.

"Hey, Clementine!" he said, almost too excitedly. Clementine braced herself. She surely wasn't expecting to be caught alone with this boy, just after Violet and Brody had talked to her about his… ideas of her.

"Hey," she said, trying to play it cool. Louis soon copied her expression, not wanting to come off too excited himself.

"So, what brings you to the music room?" he asked.

"Um, just thought I would explore a little before classes tomorrow. Music room seemed interesting, I guess," she explained. Louis seemed to not be able to help but smile.

"Well, you're welcome to explore. We have a pretty good selection of instruments, and the headmaster stocked the room with a good amount of vinyls. Record player is over there," he said with a gesture to the shelf to his right.

"Actually.. I wouldn't mind hearing you play, I like piano," Clementine confessed. Louis could only grin wider, and Clementine tried to stay relaxed. Louis continued the song she had heard earlier.

"So, I thought you were hanging with Marlon?" She asked.

"He was here earlier, I guess Brody texted him to hang out," he replied. Clementine nodded, beginning to walk around and explore the music room. It was a cozy room, she noticed. The hardwood floors had been made more comfortable with rugs. The same dark, heavy red curtains from her dorm adorned the windows. There were comfortable chairs along with a few foldable ones. The room held two acoustic guitars, one acoustic bass guitar, and a ukulele.

"No drums?" Clementine asked, noticing the lack of percussion.

"You play?" Louis asked through his song.

"No, just couldn't help but notice. Weird to think about music without drums," she explained, her fingers running across the strings of the guitar. Louis smiled.

"Agreed. I've asked before, Ericson says the drums are too loud. One downside of having the music room inside the admin building is that we can't be loud enough to distract the adults working," he explained. Clementine simply nodded, and began to look through the selection of records. Mostly oldies, she noticed. The newest album she could find was 19 by Adele.

"Weird music selection," she commented. Louis laughed.

"Yeah, we've got classical, jazz, country, and… Adele," he said. "It's actually mine," he confessed, eyes focused on the keys. Clementine couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you serious?" she said through her laughter.

"She's very talented!" he exclaimed defensively.

"You're right, she is. Just not my taste, I guess," she said. Louis gasped.

"Blasphemy. Adele is everyone's taste," he insisted. Clementine stared him down, and they didn't break eye contact for a minute. She sighed, broken.

"Fine, Chasing Pavements is a pretty good song," she admitted. Louis laughed.

"A-ha! She admits it. So, Clementine, what's your music taste like?" he inquired. Clementine smiled.

"I like a lot of older rap and R&B," she said.

"Buuut," Louis said, extending the word.

"Buuut what?" Clementine asked, eyebrow raised.

"I shared my guilty pleasure, miss Adele. Now you have to share yours," he said with a grin. Clementine flushed a bit.

"I don't have to tell you anything," she nearly snapped. Louis just laughed, ignoring her abrasiveness.

"Oh, that means it's really bad," he said through laughter. Clementine sighed. Again, she tried to recall Lee's advice.

"_Let people in a little bit, sweetpea. I know you're guarded, but the best way to make friends is to connect with something," _

"Don't tell anyone," she started roughly, arms crossed. Louis clasped his hands together as if he were in prayer.

"Oh, I am so ready for this," he said. She inhaled.

"Paramore," she confessed, exhaling. Louis burst out in laughter. Clementine's amber eyes glared at him.

"Hey, you laughed at mine!" he said defensively. He recollected himself when her glare didn't falter.

"I liked Brand New Eyes," he offered, returning to his piano. Clementine immediately recognized the song he was playing.

"I love this song," she said, coming a little closer to the piano. Louis hummed the lyrics to "I Caught Myself" as she stood a couple feet from the piano.

"So, Clementine," he started. She froze a bit.

"Violet thinks you're cool. It's pretty hard to earn her stamp of approval, so I trust it," he said.

"Good to know, I guess…?"

"Well, I just want you to know that I think everyone's cool with you hanging with us. It's hard being the new kid here," he offered. Clementine nodded. Her mind was screaming that she didn't need these people's approval. The rational side of her brain, however, knew it was her best shot at making this experience suck just a little bit less.

"Thanks. Y'all seem cool," she said. Louis hadn't stopped playing. Clementine sat in the chair near the piano, listening intently.

"Do you sing at all?" Louis asked. Clementine scoffed.

"I should stick to the shower," she said. Louis smiled.

"Well, at least you admit it. So.. I play piano. What's your thing?" he asked. Clementine felt like she had had enough of the personal questions, but reminded herself not to be too abrasive.

"Well… I'll leave that for you to find out," she finally said.

"A woman of mystery," he said, continuing to play. Clementine decided to sit and listen a while longer. Before she knew it, Louis had made it through a couple more songs. They had just sat there in silence, listening. Finally, Louis broke the silence.

"Lunch is open from eleven to one," he finally spoke.

"I think I have class at twelve, but not eleven," she said, understanding what he was insinuating.

"Cool. Me, Ruby, Assim, and Mitch have that lunch. You'll like them," he said. She smiled at the subtle invitation.

Making friends had sort of been like pulling (her own) teeth, but it seemed to be paying off. With Violet, she had to initiate everything. From there on, it was pretty easy. She didn't expect much. With Louis, she noticed, he had no problem initiating. She still had to make an effort with him, though. Effort not to be as rude, effort to share more about herself.

"Okay," she said, catching herself still smiling. She quickly let the smile fall and adjusted her hat.

"Nice hat," Louis said.

"Thanks," she said. She was silent for another moment. "It's my dad's," she continued. Louis nodded.

"I like it," he said. Clementine couldn't describe the tone of the room. It was awkward, yet somehow comfortable. It was sort of like talking to a friend's parents. The first couple interactions were bound to be awkward, but they created a person you cared about. You inevitably became comfortable around them, quickly. Clementine stood up.

"Well, I think I'm going to head to my room," she said. Louis nodded.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked, smiling at her. Clementine gave in to his admittedly infectious smile, smiling back.

"Yeah. I'll see you at lunch," she said, waving as she turned around and headed out of the room.

Clementine walked through the now empty courtyard, checking the time on her phone. It was a humble Samsung Intensity that Lee had gifted her when she turned fifteen. Eight at night. She had spent quite a while in the music room. She figured she ought to make it back and get her room situated before lights out.

Clementine opened the door to Violet sitting on the bed, a redheaded girl lounging next to her. She had a fierce, side swept haircut. She was tall, dressed in black skin tight jeans and a similar band t-shirt to what Violet had worn earlier.

"Hey," Violet greeted her.

"Hey," Clementine answered.

"This is Minnie, my girlfriend," she introduced.

"Hi, Clementine," Minnie spoke. She had a smooth, inviting voice.

"Hi," Clementine answered, heading to the one suitcase that hadn't been unpacked yet. It held her cameras, including a small digital one, her Canon, and a Polariod Lee had passed on to her. Underneath was a plastic baggie with a piece of cardboard inside, protecting her photos from being bent.

"You take a lot of pictures?" Minnie asked, noticing the contents of the suitcase.

"Yeah, just a hobby," she answered, gathering the photos and some Scotch tabs. She went to work, creating a wall of photos above her bed. She neatly organized them into a pleasing rectangular shape.

"Doesn't look like it, those are awesome photos," Minnie complimented. Clementine smiled, looking over at her.

"Yeah, those are pretty cool," Violet continued.

"Thank you," she said, returning to her wall. Her photos were mostly nature shots, accompanied by candid shots of Lee, AJ, or the both of them together. There was only one posed photo of them, from the day AJ was adopted, four years ago They were both clad in suits, but they looked so happy and carefree that it didn't feel like a posed photograph.

It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door.

"It's Kate, I'm coming in," she said, allowing a few seconds before opening the door. Clementine's first impression of Kate was how beautiful she was. She was young, with her hair down in soft curls. She had tan skin, brown eyes, deep brown hair with caramel highlights, and was dressed in a simple baby blue blouse and charcoal slacks.

"Hey Kate," Violet and Minnie both answered.

"Hi, girls. Oh, you must be Clementine," Kate said, looking at her.

"Yep," Clementine said.

"I'm Kate, one of the schools two counselors. I'm just doing some rounds. You've gotta head to your room in thirty minutes, Minnie," she said. Minerva nodded.

"Sure thing," she said. Kate smiled.

"Nice meeting you, Clementine," Kate said before heading out.

Not too long after, Minnie did eventually leave. They had just a few minutes before lights out. Violet soon turned to her.

"You weren't here when me and Minnie got back," she said.

"This is true," Clementine replied. Violet deadpanned.

"So, what did you get up to then?" she asked.

"I'm surprised you care," Clementine replied. Violet smiled at the challenge.

"I don't. Just curious. You don't know anyone here, so we were wondering what you'd gotten up to," she answered.

"I went to the music room," Clementine said. Violet smirked.

"So you hung out with Louis," she said. Clementine kept a straight face.

"And?" she said. Violet just layed back in her bed.

"Nothing. What did you two get up to?" she asked.

"Nothing. I looked around, he played music, we talked. He offered for me to sit with him and some other people at lunch."

"Ruby and all of them?" Violet asked, looking at her. Clementine nodded.

"They're cool. You'll like them," Violet said, before turning around and lying on her side, covers pulled up close to her.

Clementine got up and changed into her pajamas, and took Violet's cue to shut off the light. She placed her hat on the bedside table. Nine felt early to go to bed, but she did start classes at eight, and her meeting with Headmaster Ericson was at seven. Realizing she'd had a pretty exhausting day, Clementine nestled herself into her bed, drifting off to sleep.

**Authors note: **

Hi, I hope y'all liked it. I wanted to say that I decided to have some fun with Clementine's music taste. We can't know for sure what she would've liked, but I didn't want to make her a total self-insert for my music taste. I'm not big on rap and R&B, and Paramore is my favorite band, but I figured it fit the timeline. I can picture a troubled, angsty Clementine jamming to it, especially in the year 2010. I'm not a huge Adele fan but a lot of her songs feature the piano so I figured Louis would be into it.

I also hope my choice to have Clem and Louis bonding in the music room on her first day wasn't too much. I really wanted them to connect as friends and spend a lot of time together from the beginning, and I'm picturing the flirting and romance will come with time and growing together. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll probably have another chapter up this weekend.


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